


different words for the same thing

by apostapal



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romantically Calls You Bro, a character headcanon exposition in the form of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 17:16:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9774020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apostapal/pseuds/apostapal
Summary: Jack is an emotionally stunted man-baby and Gabriel loves him anyway.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Canon Gabriel Reyes: makes his own costumes, over the top dramatic, most blessed smile known to man  
> Canon Jack Morrison: born a grumpy old man who yells at youths, macho stereotype, mostly shown being closed off and quiet
> 
> @ Fandom: you guys got them mixed up here i fixed it!!

Jack Morrison never fully grasped the idea of being comfortably emotional.

The first time they kissed he laughed and mumbled something into Gabriel's coat. When the other man finally pried the words out it was more than a little enlightening.

“I just said this is, uh, pretty gay.”

Gabriel took hold of his chin, squishing at his cheeks, and sighed.

“We are gay, Jack.”

“Yeah, but it's like. This is the real shit, right?”

Eventually, Gabriel has to accept there are some things that will be hard to change. Jack spent so much of his life playing into traditional machoism. Girlfriends he never kissed in high school and playing football till he joined the army. It wasn't about not being _gay_ so much as not being _different_.

Blend in, be normal. Act like wallpaper. If he looked the part no one would question why he was there.

SEP gave Gabriel plenty of time to pick up on this. No one really saw the Jack he did. _His Jack_ was crabby and introverted, hated getting out of bed and talking to more than two people in one day. His Jack didn't do that fake Golden Boy smile when he was unhappy. Boy Scout Jack Morrison was all SEP (and later Overwatch) saw, though, so they didn't understand what they were going to do to him eventually.

The first time Jack dared cry near him he spent the whole time apologizing. Never mind he was in the middle of a panic attack brought on by their upcoming mission. No, let's apologize to Gabriel for being 'a baby'.

He managed to divert most of it with gentle teasing.

“But you are my baby, mm? It's alright.” Gabriel cooed. Jack sniffled disgustingly and pressed his face against the other man's chest.

“You're my favorite.”

It was muffled. It wasn't actually 'I love you'. But it was about as close as they'd ever come before. Because when Gabriel said it usually the response was a grunted 'same' or a quick non-verbal show of affection.

Because men don't cry and men don't say 'I love you' and men didn't get upset about things—they just handled them.

But Gabriel Reyes, with his well kept facial hair and astronomical lifting limits, certainly did things like that. He somehow balanced the line between openly weeping during a movie (it was even a happy ending; Jack didn't understand that part in particular but he rubbed at Gabe's scalp to comfort him anyway) and responding to getting the wind knocked out of him by a shot directly in the center of his chest armor with a winded proclamation of his intent on revenge. Gabriel Reyes got to say 'I love you' in front of other people and giddily be the little spoon when they crammed onto the rec room couch and no one seemed to think he was any less capable of kicking their ass.

Gabriel Reyes laughed so hard and so fully that sometimes he snorted. He openly talked about being a 'theater kid' in high school. (“I also played lacrosse.” he added later, “You can have multiple interests.”) He knew how to sew and cook and sang love songs when he was happy. He wore his emotions almost too openly on his sleeve.

Jack Morrison barely knew how to whisper 'I love you' in the dark comfort of their room. He bought Gabriel flowers once and then worked himself into a knot over whether or not it was 'too cliché' (or just something Gabe would hate). He either pretended to be Captain-fucking-America or he stayed in his own head, looking lost whenever someone approached him.

But Gabriel never minded quiet Jack. Over time, he almost seemed to like it more. Quiet Jack wasn't trying to be anything but what he was. And yes, quiet Jack wasn't exactly happy. But neither was Boy Scout Jack. It was just easier to tell.

When Jack came back from a mission and kicked his boots off at the door, prying off his coat and silently moved over to flop on the couch it was easy to tell he'd had a bad day. No fake smiles or Face Of Overwatch attitude. Just Jack, staring up at Gabriel pitifully when the other man mussed at his hair.

“Long day?”

Jack rolled his eyes and leaned into Gabriel's hand. “That obvious?” he asked, moving so the other man could join him on the couch.

“I read you like a book, remember?” Gabriel teased.

“I know. That's why you're my favorite.”

Jack slumped against him, settled his head in Gabriel's lap, and released a sigh that sounded like year's worth of tension. The other man didn't say anything as he spotted a few more grays in Jack's hair.

“Just tell them you don't feel like it.” Gabriel said, leaning in and pressing a kiss to Jack's hairline. “Be my grumpy old man to command for once and you'll get some damn peace.”

Jack laughed and swatted at him.

“Oh yeah, that'd go over great. I'd end up demoted and friendless in less than an hour.”

“Not friendless. You've always got me, Jackie. You're my sun and stars.”

Jack smiled up at him—a real smile and not the Golden Boy look for the posters. He reached up and patted lightly at Gabriel's cheek.

“Gay.” he whispered.

Because that was still, even after all these years, how Jack Morrison processed emotions. Gabriel just laughed and declared something about showing him 'Gay' before ducking in for a kiss. And that was it. That was how they were.

No one stays together as long as they did without learning to deal with each other's shitty parts. Gabriel managed to break him of using the word 'bro' when they fucked and Jack got to tease him about sobbing during Disney movies. They both sung when they were happy—sometimes together, duets in the middle of long car rides that drove Ana insane.

Gabriel got Jack roses one Valentine's day, delivered right to his desk. And Jack Morrison, Mister Macho himself, cried like a baby in his office when he found them. For a while Lena had a video of it circulating—the hardened soldier blubbering and pressing his face into a dozen red roses. It got taken down after Golden Boy Jack threw a minor fit later, Gabriel fighting laughter behind him as he scolded the rest of the team.

Jack hung a mistletoe over his office door one December and when Gabriel stepped under it he ended up socked in the shoulder. Another video for the message boards; Gabriel Reyes laughing and rubbing his knuckles into the sore spot on Jack's arm. Golden Boy Jack laughed. Quiet Jack later sulked at him until he got a proper kiss, pressed up against the door of his office after everyone else cleared out.

“I thought you weren't into PDA?” Gabriel asked, beard scratching Jack's neck.

His reply came in the form of a low growl. “I'm into you.”

It was a balance, a tap dance. Between what Jack wanted and what Jack knew how to do.

“So was I supposed to kiss you then?”

“No.” It came out more like 'mmno', Jack mouthing at his jawline. “But you didn't have to hit me.”

“Sorry baby. Forgive me?”

Jack huffed—over the pet-name no doubt, grabbed fistfuls of his coat and pulled him in. “Of course. You're my favorite.”

Jack Morrison didn't say 'I love you' much. It was 'you're my favorite' or 'I got tickets to your favorite show'. It was shoulder rubs when Gabriel got back from missions. It was tattoos of black roses and skulls and owls up his right arm that he managed to make a total surprise despite all the planning.

Jack Morrison said 'I love you' in the way that Gabriel was the only one who ever saw the sad look in his eyes. He said it when Gabe was the only one who heard 'I'm tired' and 'just a few more years till I retire'. He said it when he choked back a sob and told Gabriel that 'this was a mistake' when the weight of Overwatch got to heavy.

So when Gabriel Reyes found his way out of the inky black mess of Reaper of course it wasn't 'I love you' or 'you're my only one' that did it. Of course. Of course not.

“I'm gonna keep talking till you listen Gabe.” the soldier said.

Reaper stared at him. An old man with hazy eyes but still Jack. Quiet Jack all the time now. No wonder he didn't have many allies left.

“Why?”

“Because,” Jack said, brows pulling together and that sad sad look in his eyes so clear now, “you're my favorite.”

And there was something about how he said it. Or who said it, maybe. Because it was _his Jack_. Because it had been nearly 6 years and maybe Reaper was tired of being in charge.

“That's gay, bro.”

The words came out hoarse and strained, like he wasn't used to speaking for himself, but they came out all the same. Jack knocked over his chair when he got up, darting across the room and yelling nonsense to get attention and talk to Gabriel at the same time. It wasn't 'I love you'. Because that wouldn't have been like them.

Because Jack already knew he was Gabe's favorite too. And because Jack Morrison never had been one for emotional moments like that.


End file.
